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Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

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Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#21

Post by TheSmoke »

Mononokay wrote: post #14
Mononokay wrote: post #4

There's something that was in the original rejection letter from the Summer Founders Program that should ring true in the mind of everyone rejected: 'It's quite likely, in fact, practically certain, that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email making fun of us; we want to learn from our mistakes.' Granted, this year it's been replaced with t…

It's worth noting that both 500Startups and Techstars exist, and are probably the closest things to YC that aren't YC, if you're looking for something like it.

angelpad [0] too!

[0] https://angelpad.org/

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#23

Post by LargeWu »

whistlerbrk wrote: post #5
djsumdog wrote: post #2

There are tons of incubators and VC around the country. Surely these people didn't apply to just one? or does YC have exclusivity requirements?

Because the distance between YC and the next best incubator is measured in light years (imo)

I suspect YC has become similar to the Ivy League schools, in that its primary value is in signaling and networking, rather than the education itself.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#24

Post by deepGem »

We applied to YC once and were rejected. Didn't take it personally but since we were in a very early stage, we dropped the idea.

I've personally found the YC application extremely gratifying to write. It does help you answer those key difficult questions that you'd have otherwise glossed over because of complacency or over confidence. What I've thought of doing is to fill the YC application for the next idea that I get and keep refining it as I build upon the idea. Kinda use the application as a good idea refining template. If at any stage you feel that you are confident in all the questions, you can either apply - literally no cost or just keep building. Having solid answers to all the questions - means that your idea has some potential of turning into something big. Of course, your idea could turn out to be a better business even without having all the answers. What I've experienced is that as you write the answers, you'll feel really confident if you are doing the right thing.

Another aspect in the application that I had a conflict with my co-founder at the time was the amount of time to spend on the application. He was anal about getting every aspect of the application right. We shot the video like a 100 times. I contented that was unnecessary but eventually agreed to disagree. I feel that if you are on the right track, you shouldn't spend more than a couple of hours on the final application, regardless of the stage you are applying at.

It takes some practice to get the video right. This again depends on the co-founder dynamics. I would use the video prep as a proxy to estimate the efficacy of the co-founder dynamics. If you took really long to nail the video - I'd spend some time introspecting. All said and done, if you take a really long time just to nail a video, how would you fare in dealing with more complicated company decisions.

So IMHO there is a lot of value in writing the YC app, regardless of whether you make it or not.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#25

Post by Mononokay »

verroq wrote: post #19
Mononokay wrote: post #4

There's something that was in the original rejection letter from the Summer Founders Program that should ring true in the mind of everyone rejected: 'It's quite likely, in fact, practically certain, that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email making fun of us; we want to learn from our mistakes.' Granted, this year it's been replaced with t…

I'd think that anyone that's bitter about being rejected won't send them an email so they can make more money.

Of course, but you want to get to the point where you can - if you don't really want to help them out, making fun won't necessarily be constructive for them, and will get you a bit of joy. It's something to look forward to.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#26

Post by estsauver »

deepGem wrote: post #24

We applied to YC once and were rejected. Didn't take it personally but since we were in a very early stage, we dropped the idea. I've personally found the YC application extremely gratifying to write. It does help you answer those key difficult questions that you'd have otherwise glossed over because of complacency or over confidence. What I've thought of doing is to fill the YC application for the next idea that I g…

I was initially quite frustrated with the amount of time that my cofounder spent on honing pitches.

I came to really appreciate it, having someone who can maintain that obsessive focus on pitch decks usually translates quite well into an obsessive focus on product. If a person is obsessive and has had a lot of past success, they're probably obsessive about the right things.

Re: Tell HN: Rejected from Y Combinator? Don't be upset or quit

#27

Post by at-fates-hands »

I've always felt more people should spend some time in sales to harden their skin a little bit. Anything, including running a startup and being successful is a numbers game.

If you change your mindset from, "Oh we got rejected, we must be doing something wrong." to "Oh we got rejected, it just means we're now closer to getting accepted by some other incubator, VC, angle investor, etc."

The guys I worked with in several startups took rejection as a badge of honor. It just meant you were getting closer, not further away from your goal.

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